THE HARDER THEY FALL: forgettable Old West shoot ’em up, but with soul

Jonathan Majors and Zazie Beetz in THE HARDER THEY FALL. Courtesy of Netflix.

The Harder They Fall is a neo-spaghetti western, pretty much like Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight, except that all the gunslingers are of African ancestry. As in Taratinoesque film, there is lots of bloody violence prefaced by clever speechifying.

Technically, this is a revenge film, with a heinous act in the opening scene sure to to be avenged in the last. But it’s really an excuse for some of the finest Black screen actors (Regina King, Idris Elba, LaKeith Stanfield, Delroy Lindo) to don cowboy gear and engage in the Western genre.

The protagonist is played by Jonathan Majors, who broke through in The Last Black Man in San Francisco, and it’s great to see him leading a Hollywood movie. Because I don’t watch much TV, I’m late to the party in recognizing Zazie Beetz as a compelling screen presence; man, she’s a force.

Deon Cole (Blackish, I’m Fine, Thank You or Asking) so good in broadly comic roles, gets to show off his dramatic chops.

There is plenty of humor sprinkled throughout and one LOL moment when the protagonists ride into a White Town. That joke is an homage to one in Blazing Saddles.

There’s nothing original about The Harder They Fall except for the all-Black cast. There’s nothing memorable about it, either – just 2 hours and 19 minutes of amusing shoot ’em up with some really excellent actors.

The Harder They Fall is streaming on Netflix.

Movies to See Right Now

Gil Birmingham in WIND RIVER

With the contemporary Western thriller Wind River, screenwriter Taylor Sheridan has delivered another masterpiece, this time in his first effort as director. It’s got mystery, explosive action, wild scenery and some great acting, especially by Jeremy Renner and Gil Birmingham.

Other movies that are among the best of the year are the historical thriller Dunkirk and the delightful romantic comedy The Big Sick.

The best of the rest:

  • Baby Driver is just an action movie, but the walking, running and driving are brilliantly timed to the beat of music.
  • I enjoyed Charlize Theron’s rock ’em, sock ’em, espionage thriller Atomic Blonde.
  • The Trip to Spain, another gourmet romp from Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan is funny for the first 90 minutes or so – just leave when the characters part company in Malaga.

Given that Netflix will release Top of the Lake: China Girl in September, my DVD/Stream of the Week is the original Top of the Lake from 2013. It’s the perfect choice to binge watch on Labor Day weekend.

Turner Classic Movies spotlights the director Werner Herzog on September 7 with Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo, Stroszek, Aguirre the Wrath of God and Cobra Libre and the Les Blank documentaries Burden of Dreams (about the making of Fitzcarraldo) and Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe.

On September 4, TCM brings us an evening of boxing films, including Requiem for a Heavyweight, The Harder They Fall, Somebody Up There Likes Me and The Golden Boy.  I am recommending the 1972 Fat City from the great director John Huston. Huston shot the film in Stockton, and Fat City is a time capsule for the Central Valley in the early 70s. Stacy Keach plays a boxer on the slide, his skills unraveled by his alcoholism. He inspires a kid (a very young Jeff Bridges), who becomes a boxer on the rise.

Keach and Susan Tyrrell give dead-on performances as pathetic sad sack barflies. Tyrrell was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. In this wonderful 2000 profile in LA Weekly, Tyrrell said, “The last thing my mother said to me was, ‘SuSu, your life is a celebration of everything that is cheap and tawdry.’ I’ve always liked that, and I’ve always tried to live up to it.”

Susan Tyrrell in FAT CITY